Community News pages 50-53 Fine for 15,000 fish deaths The North Devon company that caused a pollution incident leading to a devastating fish kill on the River Mole near South Molton, has been fined £2,000 and ordered to pay £9,836 in costs. Agricultural contractors, A J Sing and Son Ltd, of Pillavins Farm near South Molton, pleaded guilty when they appeared at Exeter Magistrates Court on Wednesday July 28th. Ryan Adams, an employee of A J Sing and Son Ltd at the time of the incident, also pleaded guilty, and was fined £667 with costs of £2,000. In July 2019, Environment Agency officers found an estimated 15,600 dead fish along a
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4.7 kilometre stretch of the River Mole (above), including salmon, brown trout, sea trout, bullheads, stone loach and minnows. Environment Officer Nicola Rumsey said this was a “truly shocking” fish kill on a previously pristine stretch of water, adding, “It may take a number of years for the fish population to fully recover.” The incident was caused by a spill of anaerobic digestate, a kind of fertiliser packed with nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium, due to an unrepaired leaking pipe followed by a period of heavy rain.
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